Film cutter

ABSTRACT

A film cutter and splicer for cutting various sizes and types of motion picture film such as 35, 16 and 8mm. It consists of a base to which any one of a number of different blocks may be secured, each block being adapted to receive a different size film. Thus to cut different film it is only necessary to change the blocks, the same basic cutting mechanism being used for all size films. A hold-down plate is also provided so that the device may also be conveniently employed to apply adhesive splicing tape to the film.

tates :atent 1191 1111 3,913,433

Matthews 1 1 Oct. 21, 1975 1 1 FILM CUTTER 1,535,129 4/1925 Monacelli et a1. 156/505 1751 Inventor: George Matthews, Burbank, Calif- 3:183:33? 1/1313 tiffiiiiliji1:13:31:11111311131758")? 73 Assignee; Magnasync Moviola Corporation, 3,757,621 9/1973 Breetvelt 83/157 North Hollywood, Calif. Primary ExaminerFrank T. Yost [22] Fled: June 1974 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Jessup & Beecher [21] Appl. No.: 480,993

[57] ABSTRACT 52 us. c1. 83/157; 83/451; 83/607; A film cutter and spliw for cutting various Sizes and 83/658; 83/694; 83/698 types of motion picture film such as 35, 16 and 8mm. 51 1111. 01. B26D 1/30; B26D 7/16 It consists of a base to which y one of a number of 58 Field Of Search 83/157, 456, 451, 553, different blocks y be Secured, each block being 133/ 07 603 09 94 9g 5 15 505 adapted to receive a different size film. Thus to cut 50 159 5 7 different film it is only necessary to change the blocks, the same basic cutting mechanism being used for all 5 References Cited size films. A hold-down plate is also provided so that UNITED STATES PATENTS the device may also be conveniently employed to apply adhesive splicing tape to the film. 637,870 11/1899 Holllday 83/607 X 1,331,563 2/1920 Genter 83/607 X 6 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures US. Patent Oct-L21, 1975 Sheetlof3 3,913,433

US. Patent Oct. 21, 1975 Sheet2 0f3 3,913,433

' Fig. 8.

U.S. Patent Oct. 21, 1975 Sheet 3 of3 3,913,433

Fig. 5.

Fig. 7..

FILM CUTTER BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a plan view of the cutter and splicer.

FIG. 2 is an elevation taken on line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a plan section taken on line 33 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a cross-section taken on line 44 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a cross-section taken on line 55 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 5 showing the parts in a different position.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are plan views of film supporting blocks for 16 and 8mm film, respectively.

FIG. 9 is a view of one of the parts of the film supporting block.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the figures, the cutter is shown as comprising a somewhat elongate base 10 having a ledge or shelf 12 formed along one longitudinal edge thereof. The ledge 12 receives an elongate film support block 14 mounted thereto by any suitable means, as for example, a pair of machine screws 16 extending upwardly through bores 18 in the base 10 and threaded into the block 14. The block 14 has a recess in the form of a transverse slot 20, which receives, and in which resides, a stationary shear bar 22.

A superstructure 24 is secured to the base 10 by means of a machine screw 26 passing upwardly through a bore in the base 10 and threaded into the superstructure 24. The stationary shear bar 22 is secured to the superstructure 24 by a screw 28 which passes through a bore in the superstructure 24 and is threaded into the stationary shear 22.

Pivotally mounted on the superstructure 24 is an arm 30, to which is secured, by screws 32, a movable shear or cutting blade 34. The arm 30 is journaled about a shaft 36 fitted into and extending from the superstructure 24 to accommodate the arm 30. As the arm 30 is pivoted downward from the position shown in FIG. 5 to the position shown in FIG. 6, the movable shear comes into shearing relation with the stationary shear 22 to shear a strip of film placed on the top, filmsupporting surface 38 of the block 14.

As the movable shear 34 comes down in the shearing operation, it engages an anvil bar 42 mounted in the transverse slot 20, parallel and contiguous to the stationary shear 22. The top surface of the anvil bar 42 is flush with the top surface of the stationaryshear 22, which is in turn flush with the film-supporting surface 38 of the block 14. The purpose of the anvil bar 42 is to provide full support for the film as it is being sheared. Without the anvil 42, the space which it occupies, and which is necessary to accommodate the shear 34, would form a recess into which the film might be pushed down. This would be particularly likely in case the cutting edges of the shears 22 and 34 become dull, and it would derogate from good shearing of the film.

As the shear 34 moves down and, in conjunction with the shear 22 shears the film, as shown in FIG. 6, the anvil 42 must of necessity give way. This is made possible by resiliently mounting the anvil 42 in the slot 20. This is done, as best seen in FIG. 4,by providing clearance beneath the anvil 42, and biasing the anvil 42 upward by a bias spring 44, acting through a pin 46 which presses upwardly on the under surface of the anvil 42. To limit upward movement of the anvil 42 when pressed up by the spring 44, and thus cause the upper surface of the anvil 42 to come flush with the surface 38, the anvil 42 is provided with an undercut ledge, 48 which comes into engagement with a complementary overhang 50 formed by enlarging the bottom of the slot 20 to form an inverted T, as shown at 52.

The block 14 shown in FIG. 1 is for 35mm film. It has four relatively large pins 54 projecting upwardly from the filmsupporting surface 38 in position to engage the sprocket holes in 35mm film. The pin 54 extends downwardly through the block 14 and terminates in the hollowed-out portion 52 as shown in FIG. 4. Thus, ready access to the pins 54 is provided so that they may be easily pushed out by insertion of a screw driver and replaced with new pins. This is a useful provision because the action of the film sprocket holes, being repeatedly placed and removed from the pins 54, rapidly abrades the pins 54, and ready replacement is a desirable feature.

To keep the film taut on the supporting surface 38, a pair of tension plates 56 are provided, residing in slots 57 near each end of block 14. Each plate 56 has tits 58 extending upwardly in position to engage sprocket holes on the 35mm film. The plate 56 is biased outwardly by a spring-pressed ball 60 and is pivoted about, and held in position by, a pointed set screw 62 riding in a dimple 64 in the plate 56. The plate 56 pivots back and forth on a pair of feet 66 coined downwardly from the bottom edge of the plate 56 (FIG. 9).

The spacing of the slots 57, with respect to the central pins 54 and the plane of the shearing edges of the blades 22 and 34, is such that when the 35mm film is engaged over the pins 54 and the tits 58, the plate 56, being biased outwardly, maintains optimum tautness in the film for both cutting and splicing.

In order to readily move the plate 56 inward as the film is being mounted into position on the support surface 38, a push pin 70 is provided which may be manually pressed inward to move the plate 56 inward against the bias of the spring-pressed ball 60. After the film is positioned, release of the pin 70 allows the tit 58 to tension the film outwardly, in position on the block 14. The pin 70 is maintained in its bore 72 by being slightly peened over at its inner end 74. g

A given block 14 can accommodate only 35mm film. To cut and splice other size film would require an entirely different cutter, except that in accordance with the present invention the structure is such that only the block 14 need be removed from the ledge or shelf 12, and replaced by a block adapted to hold a 16 or 8mm film.

With the block 14 removed from the ledge 12, the stationary shear 22 projects transversely over the ledge 12 and is in position to receive any of the desired blocks 14, which is simply fed horizontally into position with the stationary shear 22 entering the slot 20. The stationary shear 22 rides on the bottom edge of the slot 20, and, in conjunction with the anvil 42, thus serves to exactly position the block 14 as it is slid laterally or transversely into place on the ledge 12. Thereafter the screws 16 are threaded into place to hold the block firmly on the base 10.

For cutting 16mm film there would be used a block 14, such as appears in FIG. 7, having only one pair of perforationreceiving pins 54. The tensioning plates 56' likewise would have a single tit 58'.

The block 14" for 8mm film is shown in FIG. 8 and is substantially the same as the 16mm block of FIG. 7, except that the retaining pins 54" and 58" are smaller.

After the film has been cut by the shears 22/34, it may be left in position with two film ends butted against each other on the block 14. A strip of transparent adhesive tape, with proper perforations, is then placed over the joint and held down until the bond is set, by a holddown plate 76 mounted beneath an operating button 78. Button 78 is in turn mounted to an arm 80 pivotally mounted to a stub shaft 82. The shaft 82 resides in a plane parallel to the film-supporting surface 38 and is disposed at an oblique angle with respect to the ledge 12 on which the block 14 is mounted. The plate 76 may be pivoted downwardly from its upper position (FIG. 2) to its lower position (FIG. where it presses firmly against the adhesive tape83 bonding and splicing the two ends of the film 85 together. In this operation the pins 54 are accommodated by holes 84 in the plate 76. When either of the blocks shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 are employed, the respective film-receiving pins are accommodated by the holes 86 in the plate 76.

The shaft 82 is mounted in a sleeve bearing 88 fitted into an angular bore drilled in the superstructure 24, and secured in position by a set screw 96 in the superstructure 24. Within the sleeve 88 is a torsion spring 90, one end 92 of which is captured in a diametral slot in the sleeve 88. The other end 94 of the spring 90 resides in a radial bore in the shaft 82. Torsion prestress in the spring 90 keeps the arm 80 normally elevated out of the way in the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, but it may be readily pivoted downward by digital pressure on the button 78 to press the splicing tape 83 firmly against the film 85 being spliced. Upon release of finger pressure, the spring 90 returns the arm 80 and plate 76 to the raised position.

When not in use the reel of adhesive tape is conveniently retained on a storage stud or boss 100.

The stud shaft 36 on which the arm 30 pivots is fitted firmly into the superstructure 24, as shown at 102 (FIG. 3). The bearing surface for the arm 30 is provided by a sleeve such as a nylon sleeve 104 received within a recess 106 in the end of the arm 30. The sleeve 104 is centered around and by a torsion spring 108 which resides in an enlarged bore 110 in the superstructure 24. The inner end or tang 112 of the spring 108 resides in an axisparallel bore in the interior of the superstructure 24, while the outer end 114 resides in a similar bore in the arm 30. The torsion spring 108 keeps the arm pivotally biased toward its upper position shown in FIG. 5, from which it may be moved by manual pressure to the cutting position shown in FIG.

6 and then retracted by the spring 108.

The arm 30 is retained axially on the shaft 36 by a collar 116 held in place on the end of the shaft 30 by a set screw 118. Positioned between the collar 116 and the arm 30 are a steel washer 120, a fiber washer 122, and a spring bow 124. Another washer 125 is secured in position between the arm 30 and the superstructure 24. The arm 30 is thus maintained both radially and axially in precise position to bring the shearing blade 34 into proper conjunction with the stationary shearing face of the sleeve 104, thereby insuring precise desired engagement between the two shearing edges.

To limit the downward movement of the arm 30, a stop screw 126 is threaded at 128 into the block 10. For convenience in manually pressing down the arm 30, a finger button 130 is provided.

I claim:

1. A film cutter for use in cutting motion picture film comprising:

a base;

a stationary shear secured to said base;

a movable shear movably mounted on said base and cooperable with said stationary shear to shear a film positioned therebetween;

a plurality of film support blocks having a surface for supporting a strip of film during shearing, each being adapted to accommodate a different style of film;

and each being readily mountable and demountable from said base;

whereby any one of a number of different types of film may be sheared simply by mounting the appropriate block on said base;

recess means in said block for receiving said stationary shear;

mounting means for mounting said block to said base with said stationary shear residing in said recess means, and with a cutting edge of said stationary shear substantially flush with said surface.

2. A film cutter for use in cutting motion picture film comprising:

a base;

a stationary shear secured to said base;

a movable shear movably mounted on said base and cooperable with said stationary shear to shear a film positioned therebetween;

a film support block having a surface for supporting a strip of film during shearing;

recess means in said block for receiving said stationary shear;

an anvil in said recess means in position to be engaged by said movable shear as a film is sheared;

means for resiliently mounting said anvil for limited movement when engaged by said movable shear;

a face of said anvil being substantially fiush with said surface;

mounting means for mounting said block to said base with said stationary shear residing in said recess means, and with a cutting edge of said stationary shear substantially flush with said surface.

3. A film cutter for use in cutting motion picture film comprising:

a base having a block receiving ledge;

a stationary shear projecting transversely over said ledge secured to said base;

a movable shear movably mounted on said base and cooperable with said stationary shear to shear a film positioned therebetween, said movable shear movable in a plane transverse to said ledge;

a film support block having a surface for supporting a strip of film during shearing, said block being elongate and residing on said ledge;

recess means in said block for receiving said stationary shear, said recess means comprising a transverse slot in said block into which said stationary shear extends;

a series of film-supporting blocks selectively mountable on said base, each block having positioning pins for positioning a strip of motion picture film on the block in position to be cut by said blade, the pins of the several blocks being different in character so that each block may selectively accommodate a different style of motion picture film;

means for detachably securing a given block to said base.

6. A cutter in accordance with claim 5 wherein:

said base is formed with a shelf onto which a given block is mounted when installed. 

1. A film cutter for use in cutting motion picture film comprising: a base; a stationary shear secured to said base; a movable shear movably mounted on said base and cooperable with said stationary shear to shear a film positioned theRebetween; a plurality of film support blocks having a surface for supporting a strip of film during shearing, each being adapted to accommodate a different style of film; and each being readily mountable and demountable from said base; whereby any one of a number of different types of film may be sheared simply by mounting the appropriate block on said base; recess means in said block for receiving said stationary shear; mounting means for mounting said block to said base with said stationary shear residing in said recess means, and with a cutting edge of said stationary shear substantially flush with said surface.
 2. A film cutter for use in cutting motion picture film comprising: a base; a stationary shear secured to said base; a movable shear movably mounted on said base and cooperable with said stationary shear to shear a film positioned therebetween; a film support block having a surface for supporting a strip of film during shearing; recess means in said block for receiving said stationary shear; an anvil in said recess means in position to be engaged by said movable shear as a film is sheared; means for resiliently mounting said anvil for limited movement when engaged by said movable shear; a face of said anvil being substantially flush with said surface; mounting means for mounting said block to said base with said stationary shear residing in said recess means, and with a cutting edge of said stationary shear substantially flush with said surface.
 3. A film cutter for use in cutting motion picture film comprising: a base having a block receiving ledge; a stationary shear projecting transversely over said ledge secured to said base; a movable shear movably mounted on said base and cooperable with said stationary shear to shear a film positioned therebetween, said movable shear movable in a plane transverse to said ledge; a film support block having a surface for supporting a strip of film during shearing, said block being elongate and residing on said ledge; recess means in said block for receiving said stationary shear, said recess means comprising a transverse slot in said block into which said stationary shear extends; mounting means for mounting said block to said base with said stationary shear residing in said recess means, and with a cutting edge of said stationary shear substantially flush with said surface.
 4. Cutter in accordance with claim 3, including: an anvil bar in said slot flush with said surface, and engageable by said movable shear; means for resiliently mounting said bar to resiliently give way as it is engaged by said movable shear.
 5. A film cutter for use in cutting motion picture film, comprising: a base; a cutting blade movably mounted on said base; a series of film-supporting blocks selectively mountable on said base, each block having positioning pins for positioning a strip of motion picture film on the block in position to be cut by said blade, the pins of the several blocks being different in character so that each block may selectively accommodate a different style of motion picture film; means for detachably securing a given block to said base.
 6. A cutter in accordance with claim 5 wherein: said base is formed with a shelf onto which a given block is mounted when installed. 